<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Big Brother To The Rescue by LazyLuc</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25885789">Big Brother To The Rescue</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/LazyLuc/pseuds/LazyLuc'>LazyLuc</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Cartoon 2018), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Blood, Family Feels, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Injury, Raph being the best bro, a bit of bleeding, but he should more take care of himself, but it's mentioned like twice, just in case, who tf choose the tag order of the turtles bros??</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 10:26:48</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>7,142</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25885789</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/LazyLuc/pseuds/LazyLuc</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Leo knew he could always count on his older brother to help him out when he got into trouble. He and his other brothers were so lucky to have such a great guy as a big brother. He hoped Raph knew they would always be ready to return the favor back at him.</p><p>Or, three times Raph protected his little brothers, and one time they protected him.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Donatello &amp; Leonardo &amp; Michelangelo &amp; April O'Neil &amp; Raphael (TMNT), Donatello &amp; Leonardo &amp; Michelangelo &amp; Raphael (TMNT)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>132</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Big Brother To The Rescue</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Big thanks to @PrototypeLQ for the ideas!! I knew I wanted to write a fic like this, but had no idea about the situation the bros would be in, so thanks pal!</p><p>These are not in a chronological order by the way, enjoy!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>1- Donnie</p><p> </p><p>"Master Shredder, destroy your enemy!"</p><p> </p><p>Under the command of Foot Recruit, the Shredder attacked them using an inhuman speed, successfully destroying Raph's mystical form in the blink of an eye.</p><p> </p><p>Before anyone could react, Donnie, Leo, Mikey, Raph, their father and April had been separated and scattered in separate places in the room.</p><p> </p><p>Recovering from the shock and regaining his bearings, Donnie sat down. When he noticed he had landed in a shadow of something, he had the silly (yet logical, he knew) instinct to look up.</p><p> </p><p>Above him was Shredder. He looked huge and was towering him completely, engulfing him in his shadow as if Don was nothing. To make things worse, their gazes met and they stared into each other's eyes.</p><p> </p><p>...</p><p> </p><p>Well, shit.</p><p> </p><p>He was deep into trouble, he knew it. His brain was inquire him with all the ways he could end here and now, and there were far too many different ways and possibilities for his liking. He calculated his odds of surviving for any possible outcome of this situation, and maybe he was a little pessimistic there but they were ridiculously low at the moment.</p><p> </p><p>They already had such a hard time fighting The Shredder last time, even if technically speaking, they had more limited the damage and win some time for Leo to come back, they hadn't 'defeated' him.</p><p> </p><p>And now Shredder was staring right at him.</p><p> </p><p>Donatello was so deep in thought that he didn’t notice the threat approaching him. His mind refusing to cooperate for once.</p><p> </p><p>He didn’t regain his feet on the ground until his vision was filled with a very familiar green.</p><p> </p><p>Before Donnie could say anything, Raph positioned himself to form a shield around him. This stupid big brother of his was ready to be killed to save him.</p><p> </p><p>Raph had probably regained his senses not long ago and had noticed the situation in which Donnie was in, then run to protect him without any thought for his own safety. That stupid big brother.</p><p> </p><p>Despite that, Donnie will never even admit it for all the gold and purple jackets in the world, that he was sincerely grateful for the familiar presence of his brother by his side while he was terrified.</p><p> </p><p>And so he clung at Raph's arm as if it were a lifeline, putting all his trust in his big brother. He hated acting on instinct, as Mikey often did for exemple, he always preferred to react out of pure logic. But right now he had to cheet on the logic and could just believe that a miracle would saved them all.</p><p> </p><p>Donnie tightened his grip on his older brother's arm and tightly closed his eyes. He could feel the moment when Raph's arm flexed and also by the sound when The Shredder started to crush and press down on his brother's shell. Forcing him down, towards Donnie. And he knew that Raph was doing everything in he could to not hurt him.</p><p> </p><p>He felt terribly bad for Raph. Not that he never was depenent of the red turtle, just as much as his brothers, they could just say 'Raph will fix it' to each of their problems.</p><p> </p><p>But it was something else. Shredder was something else. And he hated most of all when his big brother ended up injured, either trying to fix problems, or totally ignoring his own safety in favor of the one of his little brothers in a self-sacrificing gesture that was typical of Raph. Just, typical.</p><p> </p><p>And that was one of those situations, he could feel Raphael giving in to the pressure of the monster above them as he tried with all his might not to let himself let down. But each repeating blow from Shredder caused him to lose ground and Donnie himself started to feel the kicks.</p><p> </p><p>Donnie didn't even want to start imagining what pain his brother was under right now. And he knew that aftermath, the red turtle would apologized to him that he couldn't have protected him better than that.</p><p> </p><p>Which was totally ridiculous since he knew that Raph was doing everything he could to protect him, regardless of his very own safety. But that scenario was only possible if they could make it through this situation in the first place, whitch only some sort of miracle could allow.</p><p> </p><p>That miracle was not brought about by Raph, whose plan was to shilelding his brother no matter what happens until death if it was necessary. But by Leo and Splinter, using Leo's Ōdachi to drive the beast away from them and create a portal on the ground allowing them to escape.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Aftermath, Donnie noticed that Raph had on his shell a little crack, small enough to not be noticed unless you were conscious of it, and Don felt terrible about it. Raph, noticing his expression, he hurried to assure Don that he was perfectly fine, trying to cover it up by saying that he was proud of his all his scars because they proved he was a great fighter. Which didn’t make him feel much better. The fact that he was more of a man of science and less of a hand-to-hand fighter maybe played a little.</p><p> </p><p>He knew he wasn’t the only one who hated Raph’s habit of always putting his brothers before himself, Leo and Mikey also shared the same feeling as him. The red turtle was always the one to protect them, he just wished they could do the same to him for once.</p><p> </p><p>2- Leo</p><p> </p><p>Leo's steps echoed through the rainy night, followed by other steps noises that dragged his trail behind him, the sounds of rain hitting New York soil around them.</p><p> </p><p>As he ran, (or rather fled) jumping from roof to roof, he opened a portal, then another, and another. All teleporting him just a few feet away from where he was previously. He didn't fully master his Ōdachi yet, and while he would very much like to be able to teleport into the lair directly, je just couldn’t. But that's not what would stop Leo from trying! But whatever which roof he was jumping on, the noise of steps chasing him never stopped.</p><p> </p><p>He messed up.</p><p> </p><p>The fact is that Leo unintentionally offended a bunch of new-mutants who then attacked him. Why did all the mutants around New York tried to kill them anyway?? There were the crabs-man, the worm guy, Meetsweats… He couldn't even remember all their names and why they were attacking him and his bros! (Okay, Meetsweets had nothing personal against them and was going after everyone, but he was still one of the mutants who was trying to destroy them so he still counted.)</p><p> </p><p>And for some reason, they all decided it was his fault and attacked him.</p><p> </p><p>Leo had tried fighting them, but against his will, he had to admit that seven against one turtle (no matter how cool he was) was very difficult to win, which he shoudn’t be since he was the Battle Nexus champion once, before a shadow-thing or something like that took his place, by what he heard last time he went to Hueso’s pizzeria. But the fact that these mutants were extremely strong didn't really help either.</p><p> </p><p>After a hard fight, he had come to the conclusion that his only way out was to flee, he had even triggered the panic button on his belt to warn brothers and dad that he was in trouble.</p><p> </p><p>Still jumping from building to building, he looked behind him. The mutants pursuing him were still on his heels. Damnit.</p><p> </p><p>The rain that had started to fall didn't really help, because now in addition to trying not to be caught up, he had to be careful not to slip on the edges of the buildings. And it's not like he liked rain like Donnie does. And if he was honest with himself he could feel his legs getting tired.</p><p> </p><p>"Leo!" He was pulled out of his thoughts by a very familiar voice calling him.</p><p> </p><p>He turned his head very quickly in the direction the voice came from, where a certain red turtle was running and jumping from roof to roof towards him. Raph must have gotten the button signal and be the nearest from him.</p><p> </p><p>Leo felt a lot relief and his confidence being restocked in him by just seeing his big brother. He was always happy to see him, but right now he had to admit that he was a little more than usual. Leo even let out a small laugh of disbelief and sudden relief. A big smile was now painted on the face of the blue turtle, not that the other mutants could see it from where they were, especially ince they were too busy trying to keep up the pace not with the blue ninja turtle.</p><p> </p><p>But in contrast to Leo's new smile, Raph’s face only expressed concern. Although Leo knew that expression would soon go away when the older turtle would lectured him for being careless, even though this time Leo did next to nothing, apart from being in the wrong place at the wrong time but he knew that after explaining this to his brother, he would no longer be mad at him.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>But Leo wasn't going to let the look on the red turtle's face take his smile away.</p><p> </p><p>"Hi bro!" He said loud but casually. As if he wasn't into a pretty dangerous situation and being chased at the moment.</p><p> </p><p>"Don't 'Hi bro' me Leo!" He sounded a little angry, "How did you get into that mess?!" And although there was anger in his voice, Leo could distinctly hear concern for the younger turtle. His big brother was such kindhearted.</p><p> </p><p>The blue turtle analyzed the situation, a quality he thought his brothers needed to give him more credit for, the enemies were about 3 or 4 buildings behind him and Raphael was about six or seven buildings away in front of him, but the distance got smaler and they were getting closer overtime. And Leo himself was starting to get tired from running and also by the previous fight.</p><p> </p><p>Suddenly, an idea struck him.</p><p> </p><p>He smiled in a cat-like way, looking like a cat right before they do something they're not supposed to.</p><p> </p><p>"Oh no." Raph said knowing this expression too well on his little brother’s face for over ten years of living together, his ninja training allowed him to clearly see Leo's expression despite the distance that separates them.</p><p> </p><p>"Hey Raph!" Leo called as he opened a portal way below, near the floor of one of the alleyways between two buildings, "CATCH ME!!"</p><p> </p><p>And without more warnings, Leo took a step into the void and let himself fall from the building and straight up into his portal, managing to destabilize his pursuers, before reappearing through another portal located in the sky above from where he was, and facing upwards.</p><p> </p><p>Due to the speed the blue turtle had accumulated in his fall, Leo reappeared through the other portal like an arrow, projecting himself very fast and far away.</p><p> </p><p>Maybe a little too fast.</p><p> </p><p>With nothing and no one to catch his fall, Leo would be as good as a turtle scramble, and not one as neat as Meatsweats could do, probably.</p><p> </p><p>Leo looked as little as a fly as he blasted through the second portal, passing Raph and sending him high into the air.</p><p> </p><p>That’s when Raph understood Leo's plan.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>From where he was into the air, Leo stuck his tongue out at the mutants who were chasing him while he was upside down, having little control over his position or trajectory, although they probably couldn't see him at all anyway.</p><p> </p><p>Then he saw his brother, jumping from roof to roof after him, following the path that his careless little brother had taken and running as fast as he could to catch up with him. Not letting the little blue and green spot up into the sky that was his brother actually out of his sign. The other mutants having been sown for good now.</p><p> </p><p>But Leo had complete trust in Raph, and he knew he would catch him (Although he had slightly been sent flying a little too far and fast than he had originally planned). He knew that his big bro would soon catch up with him.</p><p> </p><p>When Leo finally started to approach the ground a little too closely for his liking, the blue turtle thought he had to warn Raph to hurry up, "Um, Raph? Could you catch me a little faster please? I'm kinda falling here and you’re supposed to catch me noooOOOoow!"</p><p> </p><p>Which was followed by a loud and clear "I’M TRYING!!" filled with frustration but also fear.</p><p> </p><p>Seeing Leo approaching the ground to the point where he passed below the level of some of the tallest buildings in the city, and still not within arm's reach. Raph made a dangerous decision.</p><p> </p><p>He jumped to the ground, glad they had arrived somewhere where there were only a very few people out at night while trying to get to where his brother was supposed to land.</p><p> </p><p>He heard a "Huh... Raaaph?" calling for him just a little uncertain, which he replied from the top of his lungs so that he could hear "I KNOW!" He was going to grab his little brother, no matter what. He had done it before and he would do it again.</p><p> </p><p>And when finally the big red turtle was close enough to Leo to see about how he was definitely going too close to the ground, he threw himself forward, not caring in the least about all the scratches he would probably get on his chestplate and activated his powers to summon his mystical form.</p><p> </p><p>And then he felt a weight land on his mystic hands vaguely, and stopped sliding on the wet floor of New York.</p><p> </p><p>Leo, "YAY! I knew you could do it!" He exclaimed in a tone WAY too casual for the situation.</p><p> </p><p>"Don’t do that ever again!" Raph replied catching on his breath, his mystical form dissipating and softly setting Leo on the firm ground.</p><p> </p><p>Leo walked over to his exhausted older brother, and then hugged him. Raph, surprised at first, did nothing but then gently returned the hug, being careful to measure his strength (which he tended to forget when he cuddled).</p><p> </p><p>And although his big brother couldn't see him, Leo smiled, “Thanks! I never doubted you!"</p><p> </p><p>"I'm your eldest brother, of course I was going to catch you," Raph grabbed him by the shoulders, "But seriously don't EVER do that again, get it?! Never again!" shaking the little brother by the shoulders, causing his whole body to shake by extension.</p><p> </p><p>Leo knew he would get a long lecturing from his big bro about how completely careless he has been and how he could have hurt himself and all later. But right now he wanted to just savor the moment of relief with his big brother.</p><p> </p><p>“Want some pizza?" He said nonchalantly. In the back of his mind he thought that even if the other mutants managed to find their track (which was very unlikely), Hueso's restaurant in the hidden city would be the perfect place for hiding a bit.</p><p> </p><p>A sign, "Sometimes you’re impossible you know?" Raph said wearily to the blue turtle. Leo laughed.</p><p> </p><p>He wasn't alone anymore, and Leo knew he could always count on his older brother to help him out when he got into trouble. He and his other brothers were so lucky to have such a great guy as a big brother.</p><p> </p><p>Leo hoped Raph knew they would always be ready to return the favor back at him.</p><p> </p><p>3- Mikey</p><p> </p><p>Mikey was just six years old when he had started to get an interest in skating, although he had never tried it before, for the simple reason that none of them had any skateboard.</p><p> </p><p>But after seeing and researching in so many magazines all about that, he had asked (harassed) his father to give them one all one for Christmas. Mikey was sure doing it together would be a lot more fun than alone. And Splinter had read enough books whose title always was variations of 'how to raise children' and 'how to be a good father' to know that giving a gift to everyone would be better to avoid jealousy, or the feeling of preference than to give one to Mikey only.</p><p> </p><p>Then for Christmas, Mikey's wish came true and he could swore he had never been happier in his entire seven-years-life, he couldn't help but squeak out loud from excitement. Leaving his imagination to think of all the new things they could do.</p><p> </p><p>Mikey could even draw on it and even on his brothers' skateboards if they gave him the permission. It would be so cool!</p><p> </p><p>It was then that eight-year-old Raph, being the eldest of the brothers (Although not from much) and trying to behave like the more mature one directly made it a rule to always ensure that they all put on the proper protections before skateboarding.</p><p> </p><p>And right now Mikey was happy and excited, as he ran down halls of the lair to the new ramp their father had built them for the occasion. He was running with his new skate under one arm towards his destination to finally test his gift for the first time, he stopped in front of the big ramp, (without any idea that when they would be older their dad would make one way bigger, but for seven-years-old Mikey the one they had was the biggest, and also only, skate ramp he has never seen).</p><p> </p><p>He dropped the board on the ground, put one foot on it, and-</p><p> </p><p>“Mikey." Oh he knew that voice, that firm tone despite the hight-pitched voice. He turned to his oldest brother.</p><p> </p><p>Raph was not far behind him, both arms crossed over his chest and looking at him with an expression Mikey couldn't quite read, "Haven't you forgotten something?" His brother continued.</p><p> </p><p>The orange turtle tried to reflect, forgotten? What could he have forgotten? He had his board so… He was good, right?</p><p> </p><p>"Ah! You wanna skate with me Raph? Sorry if I forgot to ask you and you wanted to-" Before he could say anything else, Raph put a helmet on Mikey’s head.</p><p> </p><p>“You forgot to put on your gear!" There was no judgment or disapproval in his older brother's voice, it was more a fact than anything else.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh, right. But do I really need to?" he asked, already knowing the answer but wanting to try anyway.</p><p> </p><p>“Definitely! Or else you could get hurt." His brother didn't waste a second answering.</p><p> </p><p>Mikey sighed in submission, Raph could be so protective sometimes, they didn't even have such a big difference in age to begin with (even though he was definitely the biggest and tallest of them all), even if Raph was the eldest and he was the youngest, the red turtle behaved the exact same protective way with his other brothers too.</p><p> </p><p>Mikey sat on the floor, letting his brother help him put on his knee pads while he put on his elbow pads. A voice caught their attention “Hey, what are you guys doing?"</p><p> </p><p>The orange turtle looked up and saw his two other brothers, who had their respective skateboards in their arms.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh I'm just helping Mikey put on his gear to try his skateboard later." Raph replied.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah! Wanna join us on the ramp afterwards? It’ll be even more fun!" Mikey was excited at the idea of tem all skating for the first time together.</p><p> </p><p>“But you have to put on your gears first." Raph informed them as a fact, like a kid reciting what adults told him before, which to be fair, was probably the case.</p><p> </p><p>"Sure." Donnie said nonchalantly, knowing that arguing with Raph about that was pointless. He sat down next to Mikey and began to put on his protections from the box where they stacked all their gears not far from the ramp.</p><p> </p><p>Leo who wasn’t as smart as Donnie didn't get that and made a dramatic pose like he often did, "But do we have to? It’s useless isn’t it?"</p><p> </p><p>“It’s really not!" Raph retorted, almost offended that he would think that.</p><p> </p><p>"Come on Leon," Donnie said, knowing that Raph's protective spirit will never be bent by Leo's complaints, "If you don’t put those, Raph will remind you to put on your protection gear every two minutes."</p><p> </p><p>Realizing that this would be way more annoying that way, Leo sighed, "Fine! But that’s just for you Raphi! They’re still useless!" And took his stuff from the box, sat down, and began to put them on. Satisfied, Raph didn't reply anything and continued to help Mikey then Donnie and finally Leo who was struggling whith his elbow pads.</p><p> </p><p>Once they were all ready, Raph included, they inaugurate the ramp for the first time, each of them in their own way. Donnie preferred to leave his skateboard rolled by itself a few times on the ramps at different levels of speed and distance to test how it worked, Raph was just rolling back and forth on a short distance, still keeping an eye on his little brothers at the same time but looking like he was having a good time. And Leo tried to go higher and higher each time. Mikey just loved doing whatever he wanted on the ramp and was having a lot of fun.</p><p> </p><p>They were having so much fun that about half an hour passed without any of them really noticing, then a voice caught Mikey and his borthers’ attention.</p><p> </p><p>“Hey!" Leo had climbed to the very top of the ramp when no one was looking, he had a confident pose, holding his skateboard by the end while the other tip leaned on the ground. "Wanna see something awesome?"</p><p> </p><p>Leo was obviously notexpecting a response but the red turtle replied anyway, “Leo, no!"</p><p> </p><p>“Leo, yes!" Then he put his feets on his skateboard and bagan to hurtled down the ramp.</p><p> </p><p>Raph took Mikey by his shoulders because he was the closest from the red turtle and shifted him out of the way and so out of the ramp, standing next to it now, Raph not far from him. Unfortunately, Donnie hasn’t been as lucky as him and had no time to react before Leo launched into the descent, and as it might be predicted from a eight years old mutant turtle on a skate, he was barely standing up on his skateboard and had absolutely no control over his trajectory. And so Leo and Donnie inevitably crashed onto each other.</p><p> </p><p>"Are you guys okay??" Raph instantly asked with concern although even Mikey could see that the fall wasn’t a big deal at all, the ramp not being that big in the first, adapted to their height (little did he know that years later they would have a way bigger ramp when they’d grown up a bit).</p><p> </p><p>"I'm fine..." Leo mumbled, "Dee, you okay?" Some concern passed in the voice of the blue turtle.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, the gear cushioned the fall." Donnie replied simply.</p><p> </p><p>A silence.</p><p> </p><p>"So, they're useless, huh?" Raph said, with a little smug smile on his face, enjoying being right in front of his little brothers.</p><p> </p><p>“Aaah, you shut up!" Leo retorted blushing from embarrassment that he just might have been wrong about something.</p><p> </p><p>Mikey laughed, finding the whole thing rather funny and Donnie must have felt the same because he was laughing too, and soon after they were just all laughing. He really enjoyed spending time with his family and was suddenly even more glad that his Christmas wish came true.</p><p> </p><p>The whole thing reminded him of the comics he’s used to read, although Mikey was more drawn by the drawings than the scenario, he remembered the superheroes in them, they were all brave, caring, protecting people, also always looking out for others, and sometimes broke things with their fists and were very strong too. All these characteristics corresponded to Raph!</p><p> </p><p>A while later, after they were done playing on the ramp for the day, Mikey approached the red turtle from behind him and pulled his shirt’s sleeve to get his attention.</p><p> </p><p>"Raph, you’re my hero!" He said simply, hoping to get the message of how proud he was of his big brother.</p><p> </p><p>Apparently not by the look of confusion on Raphael's face. “Um, sure Mikey. I don’t know what you’re talking about but I’ll take that as a compliment!"tThen patted his little bro's head affectionately.</p><p> </p><p>But it didn't bother him that much that Raph didn't understand the his meaning behind his words, because he would always admire his hero big brother and be proud of him, always! And Mikey hoped that one day he could become as strong and big as him and be able to protect others too, even Raph!</p><p> </p><p>4- April</p><p> </p><p>April O’Neil felt like she was frozen, she folded her arms around herself in hopes of getting some more warmth as she walked through the cold streets of New York as the sun was just beginning to set.</p><p> </p><p>She finally reached the sewer cover she was looking for, already excited of just about being in the fully air conditioned lair by Donnie.</p><p> </p><p>After descending the ladder and walking the short path to her friends/brothers. She entered with a "Hi! Guys!" Which was returned to her with ‘Hi April‘, ‘Sup!’ and the like.</p><p> </p><p>April finally took her jacket off and put it somewhere not far from the entrance, she sat down on one of the armchairs not taken by Raph and Mikey who played a video game displayed on the TV and sighed contentedly, relaxing in the armchair as she relaxed as she could finally enjoy the perfect soft warmth of the radiator.</p><p> </p><p>“What is it April?!" Raph asked curiously, not looking away from the game.</p><p> </p><p>" Oh nothing." April dismissed with a vague wave of the hand. "It's just that it's so cold outside, it's good to have a little warmth in here."</p><p> </p><p>"Yeah, Leo said the last time he bad been outside he almost froze such it was cold. But also he was out in the middle of the night, so it must have been colder." Mikey inquired absently, Raph stayed silent.</p><p> </p><p>"You don't have a scarf, gloves or something like that April?" the red turtle asked her, sometimes Raph made her thought of her father with a sort of similar parental protective instinct, although she still appreciated the thought.</p><p> </p><p>"It's all good Raph! I really need it! It’s not a little cold that will knock me down!" The fifth group member replied, her voice picking up on a heroic tone towards the end of her sentence.</p><p> </p><p>“Yay! You go April!"supported the younger turtle, starting to gain advantage in the game they were playing at the same time. April laughed heartily, but she didn't hear the gears in Raph's head working to come up with a decision.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Days later, they had all gathered into the lair to go on the surface but still away enough from the town, after a lot of snow fell last night to take advantage of the white blanket that was now all over the place. But when they were ready to go and had already put on their coats, Raph asked for their attentions.</p><p> </p><p>“Hey, so… Here!" Then the red turtle pushed into the April’s hands and each of them something something that felt... soft to the touch?</p><p> </p><p>“Wow Raph, that’s fantastic!" Mikey's excited voice came first, holding his present in front of him.</p><p> </p><p>"You've really outdone yourself there big brother! And I know I sound sarcastic but I’m not at all." Leo said completely genuine.</p><p> </p><p>Donnie, seemingly impress" Wait, did you actually <em>ma</em><em>k</em><em>e</em> those?"</p><p> </p><p>“Well, yeah." Raph responded to the question, a little embarrassed and running a hand behind his head. "I thought it might protect you from the cold."</p><p> </p><p>Then April finally layed her eyes on her own soft gift into her hands, it was a scarf the color of her favorite variant of green, the same green as her usual jacket and also her beanie.</p><p> </p><p>And despite the fact that they were right at the exit border of the sewers, near of the manhole cover, and so out of the comfortable warmth of the lair. I it was therefore rather chilly but she felt her heart warmed up and couldn't help a smile growing on her face as she marveled like the others in front of her amazing gift.</p><p> </p><p>The red turtle cared so much of them, the least they could do was to give him a proper thank you April thought.</p><p> </p><p>“Thanks Raph!" Was the only clue the red turtle got before April pounced on him and hugged the turtle tightly. Raphael was confused at first but then smiled, chuckled and hugged back.</p><p> </p><p>The remaining brothers looked at each other in silent agreement before pouncing on Raph too, one after another, all thanking him, until they formed a giant hug pile.</p><p> </p><p>April loved her second family so much that she wouldn't trade it for anything else in the world. April wanted to be there for them as much as they always been here for her, even if it was just by small gestures like sewing scarves for her and her bros, one in her favorite color to protect them from the cold after she only complained a little bit before.</p><p> </p><p>4- Raph</p><p> </p><p>While Raph was doing one of his patrol as the Red Angel of Preventing Harm, he was grumbling a little about the fact that his brothers hadn't joined him once more. He knew it was a waste of time to hope for them to come but there was still a little hope inside of him that at least one of them would join him by surprise.</p><p> </p><p>The night was rather calm, and if Raph usually enjoyed the calm of those nights, something, he couldn’t say what exactly, but something made him uneasy, as if he was being watched.</p><p> </p><p>Suddenly, Raph's ninja instinct told him to be on his guard.</p><p> </p><p>But it still took him a some time to realize that he had just received a humanly impossible strong kick that sent him flying into a nearby wall. The contact between his shell and the wall created several small pieces of debris falling on the ground.</p><p> </p><p>The blow had been so sudden that the pain started a second late, and Raph suddenly felt as if a bulldozer had hit him in the stomach.</p><p> </p><p>As he fell back to the ground, debris from the wall falling with him. Raph saw a large shadow advancing towards him, blocking the street lights. Holding the spot where he had been hit in the stomach with one hand, the red turtle looked up to see who his enemy was.</p><p> </p><p>Raph instantly recognized Heinous Green, after all that was not everyday he got to met someone that taller than him, especialy an other turtle, but he was also the criminal he had been mistaken for during his visit in the Hidden City which had resulted in him being thrown into prison.</p><p> </p><p>Raph didn't know how he found him or how he escaped from the prison. But he knew one thing, he didn't seem happy, and was probably looking for revenge.</p><p> </p><p>Raph was in trouble and he knew it. But he had already beaten him once, he could do it twice! Seeing that his enemy was about to launch a second attack on him in the form of a punch, he decided to play on his speed using their difference in stature to get behind him before he struck. Taking advantage of the lapse of time that would create the moment his fist hit the wall, he could attack in return.</p><p> </p><p>Or at least that has been the plan.</p><p> </p><p>Because the second he passed on Heinous Green's left, Raph felt his arm get caught and squeezed tightly to the point it hurt. Then the red turtle felt its whole body sway to the left, and to the right, then back to the ground, colliding with something extremely hard each time. And every time he took another hit, he could feel the pain reverberate throughout his whole body.</p><p> </p><p>Each sway to the ground or else were extremely strong but also fast at the same time, leaving Raph no space to try to defend himself.</p><p> </p><p>Suddenly the red turtle has been completely let free, and went sent to a wall at full speed. Falling back with a heavy sound, the red turtle could almost no longer feel his limbs and was also bleeding in several places, but none of his wounds were too deep, fortunaly.</p><p> </p><p>But that's not what was going to prevent him to fight back!</p><p> </p><p>As the criminal advanced towards him with probably the will to finish the fight, like a cat after playing with a mouse. Raph, still on the ground, tried to get up and summon his mystic form, but fell back on his knees, apparently too weak for being able to use his mystic powers. He only managed to lean on one of his fists and panting for air, exhausted.</p><p> </p><p>Before he could register it, Heinous Green was right in front of him. He wondered distractedly if he should activate the panic button on his belt before realizing that it had been torn off from the belt during the fight. Well, shit.</p><p> </p><p>Before he could think of anything else, Heinous Green cornered him against the wall behind him, his head hitting the wall, and prepared himself to punch him in a way he was sure to really hurt.</p><p> </p><p>Closing his eyes tightly to prepare for the blow, he unexpectedly heard a very familiar voice.</p><p> </p><p>“<b>GET AWAY FROM MY BIG BROTHER !!</b>"</p><p> </p><p>A very familiar orange weapon flashed out of nowhere and wrapped itself around the raised fist of the biggest turtle, then because of the effect of surprise and the surprisingly great strength of his little brother and his habit of swinging things much heavier than that, he managed to send the criminal flying pretty far away from Raph, who fell to the ground once again with a grunt.</p><p> </p><p>“Raph!" Leo's worried voice called out for him.</p><p> </p><p>Leo and Donnie were by his side in an instant, helping and support him. "Raph, are you okay?" Asked the purple turtle, also worried about their older brother's state.</p><p> </p><p>"Huh, yeah, I'm okay..." Raph did his best to give a reassuring smile but only managed to make one in pain. And by seeing the look on Donnie's face, it really showed.</p><p> </p><p>“How DARE you making me feel <em>feelings</em>!" Don said, sounding offended but at the same time honestly worried. Raph’s smile get a little more genuine.</p><p> </p><p>“H-How did you know I was in trouble?" he asked.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh well, our brother instinct never fail us, you know." Leo said as if it was obvious, in a cheerful voice, trying a little too obviously to lighten the mood.</p><p> </p><p>"That and your panic button went on." Don inquired, matter of factly. It must have been probably activated by mistake when it fell off.</p><p> </p><p>“Donnie, not helping!" the blue turtle replied, fully offended.</p><p> </p><p>The red turtle couldn't help but let out a small laugh, which was quickly cut off by a growl of pain. He could feel Leo and Donnie's hands tightening around him in concern for their big bro.</p><p> </p><p>"But this dude’s pretty tough, you should go away now…" he managed to say, the last thing he wanted was for his little brothers to get hurt by his fault.</p><p> </p><p>Finally, Mikey landed from the roof of a near building and positioned himself between where Heinous Green had been yeeted and them. Then turned his head back to Raph "You’re always protecting us. Let us protect you for once!" He said confidently.</p><p> </p><p>And although Raph was used to be the one to protect them. Sometimes his brothers would prove him that they could take care of themselves, like when they had go looking for the antidote to the pizza puffs. Although Raph had to punch himself in the face to keep himself from coming protecting and helping them.</p><p> </p><p>He knew he could trust them.</p><p> </p><p>And so he nodded at Mikey, trying to convey the fact he trusted them in this interaction, also aware that Leo and Donnie were watching as well. And that seemed to work by the determined but happy gaze Mikey gave him back.</p><p> </p><p>Several approaching footsteps interrupted their conversation, heavy enough to shake the ground with each of their every step, as the biggest turtle charged on them with a war cry. Determined to not give up that easily.</p><p> </p><p>Leo made an unsatisfied noise, "Aww come on, we’re having a family moment here!" he complained. "Don’t worry Big Brother! We'll take care of this quickly, okay?" and then he set off towards their enemy.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, just stay here! We are taking care of this!" Donnie added, as if Raph wasn't positioned at the end of a dead end anyway, even though it was just concern speaking over him.</p><p> </p><p>A great fight ensued, Leo using his mystic portals and his Ōdachi better than ever before, Donnie with his high-tech bō at full capacity and Mikey jumping with agility and using Kusari-fundo to constrain their common enemy.</p><p> </p><p>Raph really wanted to get up and help them, part of because he knew it wasn't their fight, but the red turtle also knew he wasn’t into the right state to fight and couldn’t do much at the moment.</p><p> </p><p>And he had made the silent promise to let them help him this time, though he wouldn't hesitate a second to go and help as best as he could if things turned out in their disadvantage. But judging from the fight in front of him, they clearly was fine on their own on that one.</p><p> </p><p>And soon enough, Heinous Green backed down, realizing he couldn’t win against this family. And Leo wasted no time calling the Hidden City police number he got from his friend Hueso, who had spent enough time with the blue turtle to know that he could get into all kinds of trouble.</p><p> </p><p>"Raph, are you doing alright over there?" Donatello asked directly after making sure they were no longer in danger, running to their big brother’s side.</p><p> </p><p>“Y-Yeah. I’m good." The injured turtle replied, not wanting to worry his lil bros, besides he was pretty sure he had nothing broken, just some scratches and some wounds that needed to be bandaged to stop the weak bleeding, that was all! Really! Even though his whole body ached a lot.</p><p> </p><p>“Riiiiiiiight." Leo said in a tone that sounded like he didn’t buy it at all.</p><p> </p><p>Mikey intervened, "Anyway, we need to get back to the lair to bandaged your injuries." he said concerned about the eldest turtle’s health. "Can you walk Raph?"</p><p> </p><p>Instead of giving a response, the red turtle decided to try walking directly. But he only had time to take a single step forward before his knees gave up under him.</p><p> </p><p>But the feeling of the ground he was expecting never came, instead he found Leo in front of him trying as best he could to hold Raph weight from his chestplate, he was obviously struggling trying to hold his position.</p><p> </p><p>Then Donnie and Mikey joined him as if they had agreed on a silent common decision like they sometimes did, though they mostly did that in battles, except that Raph had apparently missed it somehow. That or maybe he didn’t notice because he was hurting like crazy. Yeah, that was probably that.</p><p> </p><p>Feeling his weight being slowly lift off the ground and carried by his brothers, he asked to no one specifically, “What are you doing?...” If he was being honest with himself, all that Raoh wanted to do was to take a little nap, but he knew it really wasn't the right time for that.</p><p> </p><p>"Don’t worry Raphie, we’ll carry you to the lair!” Replied Donnie’s struggling a little more than the others over carrying Raph’s weight was very clear in his voice.</p><p> </p><p>“What?!” Now way more awake, Raph wondered what could have possibly crossed his littles brothers’ minds, there was no way they could carry him that long!</p><p> </p><p>And yet, even Donnie who was the least physical of them was doing his best to hold Raph up properly.</p><p> </p><p>On one hand Raph was so moved he wanted to cry, on the other he wanted to scold them for that silly idea. But all he wanted to do more than anything right now was to take a good nap, and his muscles relaxed without him really noticing.</p><p> </p><p>"Um, Raph? You just released the tension in your muscles, right? Try to stay awake until we get home, okay?" Don's worried voice returned. He nodded with a, "No prob D." although he knew it might be quite the challenge, but he loved challenges.</p><p> </p><p>"Hey Raph?..." Mikey's voice unusualy hesitant came, "You’re always protecting us, but we will always protect you too! You can count on us!"</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah! We have your back!" Leo agreed.</p><p> </p><p>“Same. And that’s a fact. So don't even start saying that we don't need to do that, you can just deal with it." Donnie said, which made Raph chuckle.</p><p> </p><p>“Guys?" the red turtle caught the attention of his brothers," I'm glad to have you as brothers." He said from the bottom of his soul.</p><p> </p><p>“Awww!! Same here!" Mikey answered sounding very happy.</p><p> </p><p>" You're welcome!" replied Leo, proud of himself.</p><p> </p><p>“Glad to have you too, big red!" Donnie said in turn, trying to keep a neutral tone but failing miserably.</p><p> </p><p>And so they came back to the lair, not without efforts, and Raph could finally take a little nap (fell unconscious on the couch) while Donnie patched him up.</p><p> </p><p>He was glad to have such cool lil’ brothers. And to know that although generally he was the one protecting them, he too could always count on his awesome family to have his back.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The day after, April came to visit the lair and asked Raph where his bandages came from, after he told her what had happened she asked the name as well as a detailed physical description of the one who beat him up. When Raph asked her why, April didn't answer and just walked away, her bat on her shoulder and said a determined "I'll take care of it."</p><p> </p><p>Donnie who had witnessed their conversation, being in the same room as them, stood up and approached April.</p><p> </p><p>"Count me in." he said, then they bumped fist together as they left the lair leaving Raph behind, tilting his head in confusion.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I'm lazy-luc on tumblr by the way, https://lazy-luc.tumblr.com/</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>